This disclosure relates to the field of providing location based content delivery and more particularly to providing location based content delivery wherein work is performed off-site utilizing products that are stored at centralized locations wherein the products to be utilized during the provision of location based content delivery can typically be determined in advance.
Many businesses provide services to a variety of customers who need services performed at locations other than the locations of the businesses. Often the services provided require products to be consumed during the provision of the services. One example of such a business is the auto glass installation business wherein automotive glass is installed in a customer's vehicle either at the customer's home or at some other location convenient to the customer. In the auto glass installation business, by determining the make, year and model of the automobile, any tinting options and the window which needs replaced, it can be determined in advance precisely what automotive window glass, seals and sealants may be required for servicing each vehicle.
Currently one method of providing off-site automotive glass repair and installation utilizes several steps as shown, for example, in FIGS. 28-30. Since the disclosed device and method will have the greatest impact on technician fulfillment processes, those processes implemented in the prior art will be described in some detail. As shown, for example, in FIG. 28, in the described current method of providing location based content delivery, such as auto glass replacement services, at the start of the technician's day, a technician arrives at a warehouse and clocks in for the day in step 2812. After arrival the technician receives, one or more of the following, work orders for the technician's route 2816, a preprinted technician's printed route or manifest 2814, picked and inspected parts 2818 for completing the work orders 2816. The technician then compares the work orders to the manifest in step 2820 to determine that all of the work orders 2816 are included in the manifest 2814. The technician then acknowledges that all of the parts required for completion of the work orders are included in the picked and inspected parts list in step 2822. An inventory transaction is created from the warehouse in step 2824. The parts are loaded onto the technician's truck prior to the technician leaving the warehouse in step 2826.
As shown for example in FIG. 29, after the start of the day the technician completes work orders in the existing technician fulfillment process utilizing various steps. The technician completes a customer call ahead in step 2910 utilizing a cell phone or other mobile telephone. After completing the customer call ahead the technician drives to the work order location utilizing pre-printed maps available in the technician's vehicle in step 2912. Technician calls the dispatcher utilizing their cell phone to change status of the work order to in progress in step 2914. If it is determined in step 2916 that there are new work orders then the technician returns to the warehouse as needed for parts and/or paperwork in step 2918. Otherwise, the technician continues to the work order location until they arrive at the work order location in step 2920. If it is determined in step 2922 that the vehicle requiring glass repair is available the technician then determines in step 2924 if they have the correct part or parts to perform the required service. If it is determined that either the vehicle is not available in step 2922 or that the correct part is not on the technician's vehicle in step 2924, then the technician calls the dispatcher to alert the dispatcher of the status of the work order in step 2926. If the vehicle is available and the correct part is on the technician's vehicle then the technician completes the work order in step 2928. After completing the work order the technician collects payment and signature and gathers customer information on a hard paper copy in step 2930. The technician then calls the dispatcher to change the status of the job to job complete in step 2932. After the job is completed, or after it is determined that the job cannot be completed because the vehicle is unavailable or the correct part is not on the technician's vehicle, the technician determines if there are additional work orders in step 2934. If there are additional work orders the technician returns to step 2910 and completes steps 2910 through steps 2932 for the additional work order. If there are no additional work orders then the technician begins the existing end of the day technician fulfillment process, as shown, for example, in FIG. 30.
At the end of the day the technician returns to the warehouse in step 3010 and returns unused parts to the warehouse for inspection in step 3012. At the warehouse or drop box, money and work orders are collected in step 3014. After the work orders and money are collected the CTU retail location invoices the work order and closes the work orders that are now complete in step 3016. After returning to the warehouse in step 3010 and delivering the unused parts to the warehouse in step 3012 the technician clocks out for the day in step 3018. This clocking out typically involves putting a time card into a manual time clock which time card is utilized to enter the hours worked by the technician during each day.
The current fulfillment process has several drawbacks that result in some inefficiencies. Among a few of the drawbacks of the current process are: high technician dependence on the automotive glass company's infrastructure; high administrative costs associated with technician support; and reduced process efficiency and customer service.
The high technician dependence on the automotive glass company's infrastructure is evidenced by the fact that the daily work functions of the technician require much input and involvement from various components of the automotive glass companies infrastructure. Technicians are tightly coupled with the dispatchers, central telephone units “CTUs”, warehouses, and drop-boxes. This is evident in the clocking-in/clocking-out, getting route and work-orders, getting parts, changing work-order status, processing credit card payments, returning unused parts, returning payments, determining job-site location, changing routes, and addressing customer inquiries steps of the current process. Under the current process, the majority of technicians must drive to a warehouse location to clock-in and out at the beginning and end of each day. Also under the current process, at the beginning of the day, all routes and work-orders are picked up from a warehouse or drop-box. All parts are acquired from the automotive glass repair company's warehouse or drop-box. Throughout the day, technicians must call the dispatcher in order to change the status of their work-orders. This can happen as much as three times per work-order or twenty times per day per technician. In order to take a credit card payment at the job site, under the current process, the technician calls the dispatcher and provides the credit card and payment information. The dispatcher is then responsible for processing the payment. At the end of the day, all unused parts are returned to the automotive glass company's warehouse or drop-box. All payments collected at the job-sites are returned to the automotive glass company's warehouse or drop-box at the end of each day. The majority of questions regarding directions or job-site location are answered by the dispatcher via a phone call from the technician. Any route changes that occur when the technician is in route are communicated through a phone call from the dispatcher. In addition, route changes may require an extra trip to the warehouse to pick-up parts. Service related questions asked by the customer on the day of service are channeled from the customer to the technician through the dispatcher. Any return communications are returned via the same path.
Because of the tight coupling between technicians and the automotive glass company's infrastructure, administrative and support costs associated with service delivery are higher than necessary. These costs manifest themselves in both payroll and operating expense. Under the above described current process of providing automotive glass repair services, much paper is required to support the process. Among the paper work generated by such process are route manifests, check-in/check-out lists, invoices, and multiple work-orders printed for each job. Additionally, management of parts, routes, work-orders, payments, and customer inquiries creates a ratio of support personnel to technician that is overly high. The combination of payroll and operating expense required to support the automotive glass company's technicians creates a higher than desired fixed cost.
Under the above described current process of providing automotive glass repair services, there exists some reduced process efficiency and customer service. The order fulfillment process includes steps that have an overall negative impact on efficiency and customer service. While technician productivity may be high under the above described process, it is believed that there are opportunities for improvement in technician idle time, phone calls required to complete a job, trips to and from a warehouse or drop-box, work-order slippage, inventory loss, service differentiation, and invoice and work-order quality. Thus, providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that improves the currently available processes in one or more of the following ways, either alone or in combination.
Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that reduces technician idle time by increasing the amount of time technicians spend on fulfilling orders. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that reduces the amount of phone calls technicians place to the dispatcher and vice-versa. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that reduces the amount of trips the technician takes to and from a warehouse or drop-box. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that allows technicians to complete a greater percentage of scheduled jobs thereby reducing work-order slippage. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that increase control of inventory checked-out of the warehouse. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that facilitate providing higher quality service in a way that differentiates their services from competitors' services. Providers of location based content delivery would appreciate a process and device that improve compliance with “Write-it-right” regulations and increase quality of customer data collected at the job site.
The method and device disclosed herein decrease technician dependence on the location based content delivery provider's distribution infrastructure, reduce administrative costs associated with technician support and increase process efficiency and customer service. In the disclosed embodiments these improvements are accomplished by implementing broad business process improvements and mobile resource management (MRM) technical solutions.
It is believed that through the use of wireless networks an increase in business agility may be realized through continuous data access and synchronization. Better business decisions may be made when information is more timely and accessible. Wireless solutions deliver customizable data exchange solutions that fit with an location based content delivery provider's mobile business model. Wireless solutions also help office-based employees manage day-to-day workflow and keep up with mobile users in real-time. MRM allows users to track their work as they complete it, whether they are selling, installing, delivering, servicing, or monitoring product delivery.
According to one aspect of the disclosure, a device for providing location based content delivery includes a server, a hand-held electronic device and a processing device. The server is located at a first location and includes memory and data stored in the memory relating to a plurality of requests for service at a location other than the first location. The hand-held electronic device is configured for communication via a wireless network with the server to receive data relating to the plurality of requests for services and to transmit data regarding the provision of services for updating the data stored in the memory. The processing device is communicatively coupled to the hand-held device.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method for providing location based content delivery at a job site other than the location of a service provider comprises providing a technician with a hand-held electronic device, clocking the technician in remotely utilizing the hand-held electronic device, clocking the technician out remotely utilizing the hand-held electronic device, transferring work orders to the hand-held electronic device, viewing the work orders on the hand-held electronic device, capturing customer information electronically on the hand-held electronic device at a job site and transferring captured customer information to a server accessible at the location of the service provider.
Additional features and advantages of the disclosed devices and methods will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.